IMPORTANT: All credits go to the Sonic Team who originally blessed us with a courageous, kind hearted, friendly, blue hedgehog. Only the main plot of the story is mine.

NOTE: No sexual scenes. Romantic relationship between Amy Rose and Sonic the Hedgehog. Rouge and Knuckles may never admit their true feelings for each other. No other relationships are mentioned in this story, but one of the main characters will have unrequited feelings for Amy...

SECOND NOTE: Any edits, comments email me or private message me (Email mentioned in profile).

Thanks for showing interest! Enjoy!

Had a guest review inform me that the following chapters are the same:

Chapter Three: Puzzling Discoveries

Chapter Four: It is Time

I unfortunately I am unable to locate the similarities between these chapters.

I would appreciate if someone, maybe the kind visitor, were to inform me where these two chapters are the same.

Thanks for your review.

Have a good one!

- MC Productions 737

IN PROGRESS...

Sonic the Hedgehog

Rising Darkness

- Hidden Darkness -

Chapter Four: It is Time

"Uhhhmphh" a strange sound escaped from Silver's throat as Knuckles, having been launched into the air by Sonic, punched the psychokinetic hedgehog in the stomach, cutting out his breath.

"Haaaa!" Sonic cried out as he sped attacked the recovering Silver.

"Take that!" Knuckles shouted as he punched Silver in the stomach once more. "And that!" Now Knuckles fist collided into Silver's face, forcing it to jerk to the left, giving Sonic the chance to grab the chaos emerald from Silver's outstretched hand.

"Too easy!" laughed Sonic as he repeatedly sped attacked the psychokinetic hedgehog, then Knuckles launched himself into the hair. He glided through the air towards Silver who was dazed from the previous attacks, thrusting his knuckles at the bewildered hedgehog. His fists collided with Silver's face, the impact caused Silver's face to turn a pinkish hue as he began to stumble around the place.

"Ahhhhhh" Silver fell into a heap of moldering garbage bags and did not get up again.

"That should teach him" grunted Knuckles as he raised both his fists into the air in victory.

"Yeah, thanks for the help Knuckles." Sonic said with a smile as he picked up the now unconscious Silver. "Care to take out the trash?"

"Absolutely!" Knuckles handed Sonic a deep sea blue emerald and with that the two departed via chaos control, appearing in the desert of Angel Island.

Seconds later, minutes before the Present...

"We can leave him here I guess." said Sonic, "No way he can get to us from here."

"Especially without these!" Knuckles raised the two chaos emeralds into the air with triumph.

"I will take those..." a whispery voice and then a rush of darkness and the two chaos emeralds were gone!

"I do not have time for this!" Shadow's calm and nonaggressive composure seemed to vanish as quickly as a traveler did with chaos control.

"Neither do I." said the newcomer, his violet eyes glistening with annoyance. "But I want my emeralds and the Emerald back!"

"Now look h-Emerald?" Shadow said with surprise, "You mean the Master Emerald?"

"Yes, that exact Emerald!" Knuckles advanced towards the ebony hedgehog, "I will take it from you willingly or by force!" his cheeks took on a pinkish hue.

"Please return the Emerald, Shadow." Sonic said with a smirk. "Yeah, like that is gonna work!" and with a roll of his eyes, hands balled into fists, he moved closer to his bewildered rival.

"Wow...the Emerald huh?" the ebony hedgehog brushed his hand through his black and scarlet red quills in agitation. "Eggman..." he hissed.

"What does that loony scientist got to do with this?" mused Knuckles as he rested his arm against the stone cold wall of the cave they were in.

"I already told Sonic that I have nothing to do with these strange happenings and that I must talk to Eggman!" Shadow said impatiently. "Now I will be going." but before he could even take a step a rushing sound stopped him. "Not you too." he groaned.

The air rippled as Silver appeared, a bright sunlight yellow emerald in his hand. "Yes me." he said with exasperation , eyeing the three surprised anthropomorphic animals. "Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on?"

"How did you get here!?" was the trios reply.

"I found myself lucky when those two-" he indicated the azure hedgehog and red echidna with an accusatory finger. "-decided to drop me off in the desert, but I got ahold of this." Silver brandished the yellow chaos emerald with a smile and wave of his hand.

"Put that down!" Knuckles and Sonic warned, too late.

As if a fire had been lit, a dark smokiness began to evolve from thin air, a hand, or rather a claw, stretched out from within the pillar of darkness, grabbing the glowing emerald.

"Noooooo!" Silver cried out, as to everyone's horror, especially Shadow's, the darkness then rushed into the psychokinetic hedgehog.

Meanwhile...

He was watching the unsuspecting hedgehogs and echidna, as they quarreled, with mild amusement and great disdain. So like those pathetic, megalomaniacal creatures to have a bout about who was innocent and who was guilty.

In your cases, all of you are, guilty that is. He thought with a mirthless smile as he examined the ruby red emerald that he had recently acquired from two of his enemies.

Then an opportunity opened up, a chance to reveal his might and power.

A chance to show those four why they should have never crossed his path, why they should have never thwarted his mission, and why they never should have destroyed him and his brother.

He took one last look at the gem resting in his claw, before he vaporized into a thick smokiness and soared over to meet the quarreling friends.

Once he had possession of the saffron emerald, he went straight for Silver. He could feel the power of psychokinesis radiating from the young, naive hedgehog and he knew he must possess it for himself.

So he gushed into the screaming hedgehog and broke through his very power core, just like he had previously done to the ebony hedgehog whose mouth was currently agape.

Relax...He spoke to the telekinetic hedgehog, I only want some of your power. I need to teach a lesson to your three friends. Then I will leave you alone. For now.

"AUUUUUGHHHH!" Silver cried out as the smoky darkness continued to seep into him. "It wants my powers!" He screamed out as he tried to struggle away from the being that was now trying to enter him.

"Damn it!" Shadow snarled as he snatched the forest emerald from a confused and distracted Sonic. "Chaos Control!" he shouted. Nothing happened.

Silver fell to the floor in agony as the power core within was split apart.

I only want some of your power...

Hissed an all too familiar voice, the very whispers seemed to split Silver's skull open, as the words penetrated his mind, the feeling of acid gave rise to a powerful and angry headache.

Sonic was too shocked to do anything, he did notice when Shadow took the emerald from him. He saw the flashes of chaos controlled waves as Shadow screamed "Chaos Control" over and over, nothing happened of course.

Sonic could not move a muscle.

You are next...

Sonic fell to his knees as those three words repeated themselves in his head. If this kept up the azure hedgehog would be driven into insanity. "Quit it already! I get the message, you want my power! Well I don't have any!"

We will see about that...

Silver fell to his knees, the headache felt like a drum beating within his mind, as if Amy Rose was repeatedly smashing his head with her Piko Piko Hammer.

I lied...

The whispered words seemed to bounce back and forth in the poor hedgehog's skull.

I need control. Sonic the Hedgehog will be harder to siphon...

With a wild jerk and a shriek, Silver passed out. His body lifted into the air as if some invisible giant lifted him up with an invisible great hand. Suddenly to the shock of the others, a dark violet smoky substance, the kind that had rushed into Silver earlier, enveloped the psychokinetic hedgehog.

Just as he had been quickly overtaken and lifted up, he was brought down to the ground. His body shaking so violently, everyone almost expected it to explode. But it did not. Instead the body rose off the ground once more and landed in a standing position.

His eyes were closed, until they were not. And all they saw was the brilliant, glowing lime color of the eyes of an oh too familiar yet long forgotten enemy.

"That is better." It was his voice, Silver's, but sounded more cruel and cold and calculating.

"Now it is time..." He hissed with a mirthless smile, his eyes gleaming with a savage, insatiable hunger.

His lime green eyes glowed with an evil that no one could comprehend, not even Dr. Eggman who had released him in the first place. But the mad scientist would have to figure out how to control this ornery and unpredictable personality later. He had another task at hand, finding those pesky hedgehogs. They had threatened his rise to power for the last time and now they would pay.

"You already attacked all three of these heroes, haven't you." He said with contempt at the word "heroes."

"Yesss. In fact-" But before he could finish, Eggman cut him off.

"That's good to hear, if you had no past fighting experience with these pests I would very much regret setting you free."

"Don't you dare interrupt me like I am some lowly henchman of yours! I am the very incarnation of destruction and chaos. I am the end of this world and the dimensions that no mere mortal, such as yourself have ever even imagined the very existence. Watch yourself or you will meet an end worse than all three of my rivals put together."

He had transformed into a fearful being, no longer the form of the one he had vowed to overshadow. He was now made of pure darkness, his eyes were no longer like that of his rival. They were a brilliant, blood red and had iridescent green irises. His body was crystalline and a billow of dark violet mist emanated from his body.

"Uhhh-Uhhh" was all the mad scientist could manage as his eyes widened behind his glasses. But his fear was unnoticed by the enraged and ego stricken crystalline monstrosity that stood before the fearful Eggman.

"Shut up, ssslave." hissed he and he would have smiled if he still had a mouth.

"Of course, most powerful one." Eggman said reluctantly and immediately threw himself to the ground in a bow.

"That's much better." and with a laugh, the dark mist began to envelope the cowering man.

"What! Nooooo!" Eggman cried out as he was being suffocated by the inky blackness of the mist. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness, was the cruel laughter of the monster he now regretted freeing.

Walking home from the beach, completely unaware that someone was following him, Shadow stared down at his scarlet red wrist watch. The ebony black numbers read 10:30. It was late. He needed to get some rest. Just as he entered the thick woodsy area, about to head up the path that led to his home, he heard it.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Leaves underfoot. This would not have been disturbing in anyway if it had not been for the fact that being well trained as a GUN agent and being the Ultimate Lifeform, he made no noise of any kind. He decided to play dumb and continued his walk.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

It was as if his stalker was purposefully crunching every dry leaf in an attempt of making himself noticed. Shadow continued walking.

Crunch. Crunch. Snap.

Now his pursuer was smashing twigs.

The This is obnoxious. Shadow thought with annoyance. Can't he tell I am ignoring him. For now.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

The sound of the snapping twigs were getting louder as the person behind Shadow seemed to become more and more desperate in making himself known to the ebony hedgehog. Just as the hedgehog was about to start running, planning to make it seem like a casual and careless jog:

Whoooosh!

He barely had time to turn around before a huge log came soaring at him. Knocking him unconscious.